We are not big pork eaters around here, but when your mom gives you a bag of frozen pork chops, you accept them happily. To all college students: if your parents offer to buy you groceries, take this opportunity to stock up on MEAT. And lots of it. It’s fairly expensive, but delicious and freezes for forever so do it. Lucky for me, I have a dad who hunts and fishes and a boyfriend whose aunt raises cows, so we just stock up from our parents’ freezers when we go home. My freezer is full of chicken, ground beef, pork chops, and salmon. Oh yeah. Usually it would be filled with various cuts of elk, but unfortunately elk hunting was not great this year. I’m so glad my boyfriend doesn’t have any dietary restrictions, such as being a vegan or lactose intolerant, because I don’t know what I would cook. I love meat. I blame my parents. During the summer my parents eat steak and salmon for dinner every night. Lunch sometimes, too. That is all. Maybe with some veggies and potatoes. Eric says I have meat eating teeth. I also eat a lot of eggs. Yeah, protein!

Anyways, since I decided we needed to eat some pork, I chose to flavor it with our favorite flavors- garlic and lemon. They’re always safe. And with my boyfriend, who is irritatingly picky, safe is good. And this dish was more than safe, it was delicious. Except of course, the ring of fat on these beautiful cuts, because they freak him out. Ugh.

To make the marinade, combine the olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, and basil in a gallon size Ziploc bag. Nice and simple.

Make small slits in the meat so the marinade can soak aaaall the way in, like it very well should.

Season with lemon pepper and your mom’s secret kosher salt mixture (I wish I could tell you what’s in it but I don’t know. You can berate her for it at A View From the Coop or just use regular kosher salt).
Rub the seasoning into all the nooks and crannies. Put the chops in the Ziplog bag with the marinade. Originally, I only intended to let these sit for about 6 hours, but then my boyfriend offered to take me out for dinner, and I was really tired, so I said okay. The next night, he was really hungry and made a pizza without consulting me, so I caved and had some, too. They finally got cooked tonight. Yes, I’m telling you they marinated for more than two days. They were awesome. You definitely don’t need to let that happen, but it’s not the worst thing.
Once you are finally freaking ready to cook it, pour the marinade into a saucepan at medium-high heat and heat it until it starts simmering.
Place the pork chops in the sauce pan. Continue to cook on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, then flip. They should be crackling loudly and you should be jumping out of the way to avoid flying grease.
Cook for another five minutes. Move the chops to a plate and cover with foil. Let them rest for about ten minutes.
While they’re resting, deglaze the saucepan with the white wine. Bring to a simmer and let cook until thickened and reduced. Pour a little over the chops. Unless you’re my boyfriend, then refuse to touch it because “it sounds weird”.
Cooked to pink perfection. Serve with focaccia bread and spinach salad.
Lemon Garlic Marinated Pork Chops
Ingredients
2 pork chops
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Lemon Pepper
Kosher Salt
1/4 cup white wine
Directions
Combine the olive oil, minced garlic, basil, and lemon juice in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Cut three 1/2 inch slits in the meat, evenly spaced and on each side. Season the chops with the lemon pepper and kosher salt. Place in the bag of marinade and let sit for 1-24 hours (or 48, if you’re feeling like me). When reading to cook, pour marinade into a saucepan and heat at medium-high until marinade begins to bubble. Place chops in saucepan and cook for about five minutes. Using tongs, flip and cook for another five. Transfer chops to a plate and cover with foil, let rest for ten minutes. Deglaze the saucepan with the wine and bring to a simmer. Let cook until the sauce is reduced and thickened. Pour over the chops. Enjoy!